I have since vowed never to write anything about politics or anything pertaining to the sad plight of the country...

Its not just stressful but utterly depressing and taxing to the soul.

But I have to write it. Yes I have to write what I think if only to keep my sanity.

You know it is a thinking minds' sickness to write and be critical of everything even for the downfall of oneself.

It is a malady for thinkers to give reviews and analyze specific situations and be humbled by his views as well as others.

But most of all a thinkers mind can never be silenced.

I'd die first before having not be able to think for myself and for everything around me.

I'd have to die first before being silenced.

Such is the disease of a thinkers mind.

So now I write.

First I write about our soldiers.

I remember when I was young I was asked by my grand-aunt why don't I become a soldier.

I answered: "Because I don't want to kill people, it is against the bible"

my grand-aunt just smiled and nodded.

Looking back at that episode I can't help but think of what I could've answered if I was asked the same question again.

I have answered time and again that I will never join the military and for a number of reasons.

So again I ask myself "Why not join the military?"

First of all I don't see the need for joining the military because we are not in a state of war.

Second the military still haven't vindicated themselves from their past crimes specially in the martial law era.

Third the military are not capable of critical thinking either they work for the government or they work for a powerful person.

Fourth their definition of what is right stems from what they hold and that being in the end of a barrel of a gun.

Fifth they have yet to prove that they are capable of maintaining peace in our country.

All of the above are from my observations of the situation of the country, everything else are either prejudice or biased towards the civilian.

So I have yet to react accordingly to what Conrado De Quiros' column on his observation on the huge sign nailed to a wall in Fort Bonifacio in the wake of the 13 soldiers killed in Basilan.

“It’s the soldier -- not the reporter -- who has given us the freedom of the press.

It’s the soldier -- not the poet -- who has given us the freedom of speech.

It’s the soldier -- not the politician -- who ensures that we live freely and peacefully.

It’s the soldier who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is eventually draped by the flag.”

While De Quiros' article stirs even kinder to what I am about to write I have to give my apologies first to the bereaved and the killed soldiers. Certainly you do not deserve those deaths as is everybody in that war you undertook. Pardon my observations and criticism for I believe that by writing this I may give more justice to your deaths.

Lets' start with the first tribute:

“It’s the soldier -- not the reporter -- who has given us the freedom of the press."

False... Outright false I have never seen or read a single soldier in my lifetime writing anything of the ordinary who has upheld the freedom of the press. They if anything else work only for the good of their company and agenda. Freedom of the press is bestowed by the constitution the soldiers' job is to uphold the constitution nevertheless they of all people are what seems to break it by supporting a false president at that and following a bloodthirsty trail of killings against reporters and freedom fighters.

So allow me to rewrite that statement:

“It’s the soldier -- not the reporter -- who has killed the freedom of the press."

Second tribute:

"It’s the soldier -- not the poet -- who has given us the freedom of speech."

Such a powerful statement... freedom of speech is a universal freedom, who gave them the right to protect it from ourselves or from anybody? Freedom of speech is synonymous to freedom of thinking. It is against human nature to prevent people from thinking their minds out or else give the military the right to safeguard it. For all I know it is them who have prevented this time and again. And the poet is the one who is always at the rescue of the soldier not the other way around. Poets define the world and its reality in the context of its freedom to express words according to how free his/her mind thinks and a poem is a manifestation of that genius not the soldier. Poets are the one who writes their hymns, their war songs, their inspirations and their propagandas. Poets are those soldiers who know how to love their motherland and spun tearful speeches for their aggrrieved loved ones. Poets are the soldiers of the written and un-written word.

So allow me to rewrite that statement:

"It’s the poet -- who's the soldier of the word -- who has given us the freedom of speech."

third tribute:

"It’s the soldier -- not the politician -- who ensures that we live freely and peacefully."

I don't know how soldiers define what a politician is, but all I know is that they have worked under them even if sometimes for the wrong reasons. So permit me to define what a politician is. A politician is voted by the people and with the will of the people passes laws and soldiers are bound to uphold them.The people choose whom to be made as their leader and a politician is born from the people, it is therefore out of the question that the soldier work hand in hand to protect the people and the law passed by the politician. The work of a politician ergo is different from the work of the soldier for soldiers can never just ensure that we live "freely and peacefully" they can always do the opposite even without the help of the politician or the people. Remember martial law?

So allow me to rewrite that statement:

"It’s the soldier -- not the politician -- who ensures that we live freely and peacefully and sometimes the opposite."

Fourth and last tribute:

"It’s the soldier who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is eventually draped by the flag.”

I would like to give some points to consider before closing my arguments. The flag has been for many reasons used for different and countless occassions. And if by saluting to the flag one becomes emblazened to serve and protect ones' country then so be it but relegating that truth to just a few people handling guns and dying by it is just so disturbing. The flag for one is a symbol of the Filipino people. The flag is the symbol of what holds right, just and true to the country it represent. From it stems the rich history and culture of its race. Saluting to it means respecting its authority and living by it.But as for me I have never seen a flag being used arbitrarily and brazenly to jutify on stepping on the rights and freedoms of its constituents except to them who truthfully and deserves to be draped by that flag.

So again allow me to rewrite that statement:

"It’s the soldier who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is eventually draped by the flag because he/she justly deserves so.”

Now don't get me wrong soldiers are there to protect us and fight for us, such is their profession. But using that profession to bring this country backward is a clear insult for the people who died in their ranks and are continually dying to move this country forward. It is my sole prayer that this military see the outsome of their actions.

I am not against fighting for their comrades who were beheaded I was even one of the angrier one's to rant about it but to use a dead soldier in battle to justify the existence of a corrupt military is just abominable. They are not just doing disservice to the people they serve but also to the people who died fighting for them. I have great respect for our soldiers but I have not a dime happy about the state of our military and our government much less something as arrogant as attacking Mindanao who'm is about to celebrate its beloved Ramadan.

But as I always say and believe; "Not all soldiers are corrupt, and not all Muslims are Abu Sayyafs."

Your blog entry was one of 2 that Fr. J Boy Gonzalez, UP Parish Priest, chose to read as part of his homily at the mass he held in observance of Dr. David's 40th day, August 22 at the Psychology Building (PHAN) Lobby.

Having read all blog entries on Dr. David earlier, I agree with Fr. Gonzalez' choices.

However, for the sake of accuracy, I have to make a few corrections.

1) Dr. David was not a chemist or a lawyer. He did intend to study law at UP, but a "chance class encounter with an English professor", as I put it in Dr. David's website, fgdavid.com, made him shift to A.B. English.

2) It wasn't a "first born son" but a daughter who drowned, not in "a fountain in the school where he was teaching", but in the swimming pool of the apartment complex where our family was staying in at the time. Dr. David had just finished his M.A. Psychology at Bryn Mawr College and was just starting with his Ph.D. at Temple University.

3) Our 7 children attended grade school at the UP Integrated School (UPIS); the 8th, at Jose Abad Santos Memorial School (JASMS).

As I told our very good friends, Profs. Pepe & Fe Domingo, I hope the part which says "he loved his wife so much" isn't an unfounded rumor. :)

Thanks for the reminiscences. They lessen the burden of pain, and they serve to reassure the family that my husband's devotion to teaching Psychology had not been in vain, after all.

Ethel P. David

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August 22 was Dr. David's 40th day. In Christian belief it is said that the soul walksthe earth for 40 days before finally ascendingto heaven.

"I ask myself was he also there when I was in front of his office and I held the door andtalked to myself? Did he hear the words I said?"

I hope he did...

I just read the above written comment by his wife and I was glad and sad at the same time.Glad because my offering to the great person was read in the homily but sad because I wasn't able to attend the mass...

In life we really have this regrets but what are regrets but simple what if's and what not's.All in all I'm happy... I'm happy for having known a person who always points me to my north star...

All my life I wanted to be a teacher... and most of my down moments I tend to read the sayings of this great teacher...

I never read any of her articles, I get bored easily of how a columnist brags about being there and being that, and tasting this and feeling that.

It's a waste of time for me really, and I'd rather read them who are more let us say "Intellectually Stimulating" than what i consider as literary afternoon showbiz talkshow.

But when I came across other bloggers condemning Malu Fernandez's article on filipinos, to quote:

“The duty free shop was overrun with Filipino workers selling cellphones and perfume. Meanwhile, I wanted to slash my wrist at the thought of being trapped in a plane with all of them.”

“…I heaved a sigh, popped my sleeping pills and dozed off to the sound of gum chewing and endless yelling of ‘Hoy! Kamusta ka! Domestic helper ka din ba?’ I thought I had died and God sent me to my very own private hell.”

“This time I had already resigned myself to being trapped like a sardine in a sardine can with all these OFWs smelling like AXE and Charlie cologne while my Jo Malone evaporated into thin air.”

For one how many people do you personally know who are like Malu Fernandez Fernandez?

I know a lot and they are them who wouldn't eat on food courts and have never ridden the MRT.

Them who had the capacity to ride a taxi from Ateneo to UP and would never for the life of them ride a jeepney, had a yaya and a manong to cater to their every need.

But do I hate them for it?

A part of me says yes another says no. I can't blame them for having been nurtured that way by their families.

There are others who even laugh at those who can't afford original sneakers and even before havaianas were fashionable most of my classmates in High School would never dare for the life of them wear a sandal to school unless its the infamous birkenstock. The same goes for the taste in music. The Bakya and the more sosyal music.

Each particular classes belong to a certain genre and certainly Malu Fernandez belongs to their sort of genre.

Her only crime was perhaps being who she really is. She looks down on maids and domestic helpers as we do before as we look down on japayukis and entertainers. On the local scenario we look down on maids, and yaya's and boy's and drivers... Just look at how many telenovelas revolve around love stories between the decrepit and the filthy rich?

We honor them domestic helpers by lining up the streets just when one of them is going to be executed for a crime they "allegedly" committed.Afterwards committing them to obscurity.

Malu Fernandez's crime is insulting the workers as is her nature and her society created her to becoming.

I myself condemn her observations and with all due respect to her definition of humor I find it lacking of taste and of low nature.

But one things for sure I know a lot of Malu Fernandez around here and If theres one thing to blame let us not blame the victim but let us blame a system that tolerates this kind of behavior.

There will forever be poverty and discrimination in this country but it only exists if we PERMIT them.

53. "Past and present integrated into the future so it seems like destiny."

54. "Oneness of thoughts and emotion. Not reptilian instincts. When 2 become 1 that man is a classical man. One dictated by his head and not his penis."

55. "I felt so small and humble for my arrogance" (on his resignation letter and Dr. Lagmay's confrontation)

56. "What's a measure of a man as a social being? The measure of a man is how many doors he has opened to other people, especially to those he doesn’t know, to those who refused to open the doors for themselves and to those who cannot open the door for themselves."

57. "Don't aspire for it. Earn it."

58. "A man is rich not because he is greedy but because he needs it."

59. "The presence of a strong father image greatly correlates with EQ."

60. "Domestification of the human male is one of the greatest achievements of the human race."

61. "Kapag nanliligaw gusto makita ang magulang to see the future."

62. "It is better to view the future with chance and probability...with randomness."

105. "I wish I could write a poem that would be the song of my race. That would be the most beautiful song."

106. "Morality is to allow a form to go on as it is."

107. "The poor will inherit the earth."

108. "An instant is to time as a point is to a line."

109. "The soul is the memories you leave behind."

110. “Education is the process of leading oneself out of the dark.”

111. “Education is a liberating, equalizing institution.”

112. “Education is truly liberating if it can free you from the fear of ignorance.”

113. "In this harsh world that we live in, education is a right just like food on the table. education is the only way and means that could help us survive. Without education, we would die. Therefore, like a right to have food and a right to live, the right to education should be experienced by everyone.”

114. “The last domesticated animal is the human male.”

115. “Man is a pleasure seeking, vain, hedonistic creature.”

116. “It’s expensive to transmit your genes.”

117. “It is expensive to be human.”

118. “Men who use steroids get muscular for nothing.”

119. “Leonardo di Caprio... what does he have to do with us? And yet a long time from now we remember him.”

120. “Beware of a small guy who cannot lift the world like Atlas. He might try something else.”

"What's a measure of a man as a social being? The measure of a man is how many doors he's opened especially those who refused to open the doors for themselves and those who cannot open the door for themselves." - F.G. David

I never knew F.G. David, but then when I came across another persons' blog it flooded my memories on almost about everything, everything about this great man.

Weird as one may call it but this person permeates most of my lifetime in awe.

I only heard bits of stories about him, but I never knew him personally.

I always thought about intelligent people to be most of all snub, I mean not all but then coming from their era I learned not to traverse the untrodden path of being able to have a conversation with them. Intelligent people have this way of being too ahead of you that even if you ask them something you'd feel stupid afterwards (or is it just me?) either way I also learned that once they made an impression of you they eventually take away the probability that perhaps there's something more to you than that moment he/she talked to you. But anyway that just almost about it coming from a deliquent student.

Anyway I just learned today that he was also a lawyer, aside from being a good mathematician, poet, writer, english lit major, prolific chemist, all his sons and daughters studying in Pisay, and that he loved his wife so much.

I learned of him from my second year in college when I foolishly took Math 11 (and eventually failed it) not knowing that i can take up another subject rather (isipin mo ganun ako ka engots di ko alam yun) I took it in UP diliman. At that time my bestfriend Julien just recently shifted to psychology after being summarily disheartened from taking up computer science while I in an infinitesimal being took up the cudgels of Mass communications opting to shift to psychology afterwards being rebuked because of the onslaught of "5" on my records.

"Floyd di ka pwedeng mag shift ng psych masyadong mababa grades mo muntik ka na ngang ma-dismiss eh" talk about being a freshmen in a place where you dont know their culture and language and that is cebu couple it with teachers who honestly and openly dislikes manilenos but that is another loooong story.

Anyway going back to F.G. David I also learned that he lost his first born son. It drowned on a fountain in the school where he was teaching. He talked about it at length in Juliens class. When I heard it I felt sorry or him but then perhaps it is also one of the reasons why he had 8 children afterwards. His brilliance and the thought of a genius having suffered such made me think that perhaps he wanted to bring back that child he lost thats why he loved and nurtured the other nine afterwards.

Without knowing I was immersed in a series of questions about him but I dare not approach him. Whenever I get to encounter a Psych major in Diliman I always ask about him "Terror daw siya pero mabait and if makapasa ka sa klase nya ibig sabihin may utak ka."

Julien got a 1.5 or 1.75 which earned him the respect in the psychology department of U.P. Cebu heralded by Ms. Generalao and eventually made him to be able to shift to psychology "Pare ubod ng hirap ng klase nya buti nga binigyan ako ng mataas na grade." Julien said.

Even Ms. Generalao was said to have taken some classes under him as I heard and he remarked "She (Ms. G) Knows her craft well"

At the back of my mind it made me ask what would he think of me if I get to meet him or be his student?

This curiosity amongst others led me to drift more to psychology than my course. It made me more want to be brilliant like him (I have this certain affinity to brilliant people, I collect books about them and try to learn about their stories.) Perhaps I thought then that it would rub some to somebody like me, as of the moment I don't know if that theory really does work hehe)

Eventually I get to be friends with more psych students, teachers, even my thesis was also rooted in psychology.

Afterwards I get to take my masters in Social Psych in USC but wasn't able to finish it. I was asked by my professor Ms. Edna Lee to discuss about Sikolohiyang Pilipino by Virgilio Enriquez and gain I was so happy to read some things about him.

Nonetheless when I got back to manila I thought of continuing it and becoming his student.But alas my best friend named poverty and the call of "Serving the people" came and I was again back to just hoping about it.

By the way there was supposed to be a chance na dapat makikilala ko siya but then I was working kasi at that time in Cebu.

F.G. David went to Cebu to talk about statistics, he was escorted by my Kuya Mike and Ate Wensy (both psychology professors in UP Cebu, the two are now married by the way) and before F.G. David left for Manila he hugged Sir Mike. Ate said he (F.G.) liked him (Kuya Mike). That form of endearment for me is just so humbling. How much more can you thank somebody who just toured you around Cebu and ate with you in its restaurants and put up with you all the time, yes hug them ^_^

"Such a sweet man." I said to myself.

It was only yesterday when I learned about his allergy to the divine but its the irony of it that made me laugh, he's more humane than all the things I read about people in history being closer to the divine yet killing thousands in the process.

Hold meEven though I know you're leavingAnd show meAll the reasons you would stayIt's just enough to feel your breath on mineTo warm my soul and ease my mindYou've go to hold me and show me now

Give meJust one part of you to cling toAnd keep meEverywhere you areIt's just enough to steal my heart and runAnd fade out with the falling sun

Oh, please don't goLet me have you just one moment moreOh, all I needAll I want is just one moment moreYou've got to hold me and keep me now

Tell me that someday you'll be returningAnd maybeMaybe I'll believeIt's just enough to see a shooting starTo know you're never really farIt's just enough to see a shooting starTo know you're never really gone

Oh, please don't goLet me have you just one moment moreOh, all I needAll I want is just one moment more

Oh, please don't goLet me have you just one moment moreOh, all I needAll I want is just one moment moreYou've got to hold meMaybe I'll believe

I'd ratherheave half a brick than sayI love you, though I doI'd rathercrawl in a hole than call youdarling, though you areI'd ratherwrench off an arm than hug youthoughit's what I long to doI'd rathergather a posy of poison ivy thanask if you love meso if myhair doesn't stand on end it'sbecauseI never tease itand if myheart isn't in my mouth it'sbecauseit knows its placeand if Idon't take a bite of your earit's becausegristle gripes my gutsand if youmiss the message better get newglasses and read it twice.